As The World Falls Down
by celtic elf
Summary: He was suppose to kill her. He was suppose to take back her heart to prove her death. He was suppose to get on with his life…but he wasn’t suppose to fall in love with her.


Disclaimer: This isn't technically my story, but I did make up the characters…so, let's do it like this. Whoever wrote the original Snow White, it's theirs. The plotline, is theirs. The characters are from my imaginations. So yeah…There.

AN- This is Snow White…sort of.

He was suppose to kill her. He was suppose to take back her heart to prove her death. He was suppose to get on with his life…but he wasn't suppose to fall in love with her.

Chapter 1: Dirty Deeds

Adrian hugged his knees to his chest, wishing he was deaf as his parents bickered back and forth. The King had raised the taxes once more, and money was scarce. Adrian's father, desperate for some extra money to feed his family, persuaded his wife to take up a job at the tavern.

Which the woman hadn't agreed to. They were fighting more and more these troubled days, making their ten year old son cower in his hovel of a room. He peeked over his knees to the window. The shutters were open on the sunny day, giving Adrian a view to the village square.

People were walking to and fro, children were laughing and playing games in the muddy streets. Everyone's life was perfect…And Adrian was indoors, crying.

Just as his parents' fighting hit a higher octave, horns blasted through the village. People on the streets gasped, and hurried to clear the streets.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to gawk at the carriage that was slowly making it's way into town. The driver looked pompous, as if he were Lord instead of the noble he carried in the carriage. Adrian ran to the window, slipping over the window sill to take his place at the street.

The gold encrusted carriage stopped in front of the tailor's shop. People separated to give room for the noble to step out. Adrian peered around the back of the wheels, staring curiously as a slipper and a foot stepped out.

A dress was held off the muddy streets, and a woman was standing in the square, wrinkling her nose at the sight. She touched a handkerchief to her chest and hurried into the tailor shop. Another woman, younger, but just as snobbish, stepped out with a little girl behind.

She looked quite younger than Adrian, about five years old, and very shy. Her dark head was lowered, hiding her face. She let the skirt of her blue dress trail in the mud. Adrian marveled at the color of the material. He had never seen the ocean before, but he knew it could never compare to her dress.

He held his breath as the driver stepped around the carriage, staring down at him with a wrinkled nose. "Get out of here, you little mongrel." A foot came up and kicked Adrian in the chest, sending him flying back in the mud. He slid on his back, as the other children giggled at him.

Tears prickled his eyes and he spit at the man's feet, running before he could be caught.

He didn't stop at his house, ignoring his mother's worried voice as she called out to him. "Adrian!" She shouted, but his father pulled her back into the shack, telling her they still had things to discuss.

Adrian ran until his legs were aching before he stopped by a moss covered tree stump. He leaned against it, wiping the tears from his cheeks with a fist.

He couldn't quite understand why he hated the man driving the carriage, or the two women who stepped out. They were mean, and cared nothing about the people they were surrounded by. He sniffed and kicked a stone away from him. It skittered on the ground before settling in the grass.

There were the hard workers in the village; his father, his mother. They worked until their bones couldn't any more. And what for? To give their meager wages to the snobbery that oversaw the village?

It sickened him, even so young.

Adrian crouched and peered toward a bull frog croaking on the stump. It jumped moments before the boy could stomp him. Adrian sniffed and rubbed his muddy backside, vowing he wouldn't ever give into those nobles.

They were the ones who should be paying his father for the crops he grew. Never the other way around.

He took a step back toward home, thinking over the events. The two women, the man, the little girl who was barely his age. She was the only one he didn't feel anger toward. She looked just as miserable as he did.

"You've got a rebellious aura, you do." A voice rasped from behind him. Frighteningly, Adrian spun around and stared at the man. He had a cane in his hand, but in no means was he old. A gold ring was pierced through his left ear and his eyes were narrowed.

"What does it matter to you?" Adrian asked, lifting his chin high. Tears were still settled on his eyelashes despite his defiance. The man chuckled and lifted his cane toward him, tapping Adrian lightly on the head. "It matters greatly to me. I can tell, jus' by looking at you, that you'll be an asset…What say ye?"

"What say I to what?"

"Joinin' me. We could be who we want, without answering to snobbery like them." The man nodded an oily head toward the village.

Adrian shook his head. "I'll do what I please." He turned to walk back home, but the man's next words stopped him dead in his tracks.

"It's a shame…You'd make enough gold to keep your mum and papa rich until the day they died. What a shame you only do what you please." The man clucked his tongue in pity, turning with a grin so Adrian couldn't see. He had him, he knew that was for sure.

Adrian looked back at the man and sighed. "What would I have to do?"

"Not much." The man spun right back around, smiling as if he hadn't tricked the boy. "Just a bit of robbery."

"I will not steal!"

"Oh no!" The man said, shaking his head. "I never steal from the meek, or the righteous. Only the ones who deserve it, only the ones who steal from those who are weaker. Do you see it, my boy?" Adrian nodded, his eyes glittering. Steal from the ones who deserve it, the ones who steal from those who are weaker.

It was revenge. The man smiled wolfishly, thrusting his hand toward Adrian. "The name's Len, by the way."

Nine Years Later

Even after Adrian's parents had died, he continued working for Len. They were partners, they were good at what they did. It made Adrian swell with pride when he heard the latest gossip on the unmatchable, infamous bandits who once again robbed a caravan of nobles on their way to visit King Edmund.

Len was the leader, Adrian didn't disagree with that. And he often went on his own escapades, the loot from those he kept to himself. Adrian felt no need to do things alone. Len gave him everything he needed.

They lived away from any village, deep in the woods, and just like Len had promised so long ago, they lived like kings. Rhoslyn cooked for them, made their beds, and cleaned. She was Len's wife, although they had never made vows.

She was lovely, only a few years older than Adrian himself. He never thought of her as anything other than a second mother. She had barely seen her sixteenth birthday when she joined them. Adrian loved her with as much love as he had given his own mother.

It never bothered her that her husband was a scoundrel. Rhoslyn, in fact, admitted that it only made her love Len more.

She would often go into the forest for hours, searching for herbs and flowers. It was when she was away, and Len had gone off on his own expedition that Adrian was visited. Three knocks sounded at the door, and Adrian was a bit apprehensive to answer it at first.

No one was aware of where they resided. Perhaps it was Rhoslyn with her hands full and could not open the door. Taking a deep breath, Adrian opened the door slowly, peering out into the face of an old hag.

She was hunchback, and had to crane her neck to peer into Adrian's face. She smiled, her wrinkled cheeks lifting. "Dear boy, I am in need of assistance.."

"I'm sorry, madam, I don't believe I can help you." The wooden door creaked shut, but was stopped by a wooden cane before it could reach the jamb. Adrian opened it back up, his lips pursing in annoyance. "I do believe you can. I have been told you could help me…There will be a reward, I promise you."

"What are you…." Adrian couldn't think straight. He knew for a fact no one was aware of who they were, what they were. And yet, this old woman knew so much. "Just a fortnight ago, my house was seized by the king, telling me it was in his illegal hunting grounds. They destroyed my house, my belongings. They killed my birds, I had four of them…They burnt them to ashes." The old woman choked back a sob as she shook her head.

Adrian continued to stare in wonder. His bones ached at the mention of the King's cruelty. "I want revenge, but I'm so frail…I could do nothing but kill myself…I require your assistance, Adrian."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know many things, Adrian. If you do not help me, I will turn you over to the King. If you help me, Adrian, there will be much reward."

"How much?" His greed, his downfall most of the time, prodded him to inquire. The old woman grinned and pulled a pure out from her shall. She tossed it at Adrian, who barely caught it before it spilled to the floor. Gold coins glittered up at him from inside the purse. "This is only half. After you've done my revenge, you'll receive the other half."

"Alright…I'll do it."

"And you mustn't speak of this dirty deed to any one else. Not the lady, not the master you serve. Only you and I must know of this." She curled her finger back to tell him to lean forward for her to tell him her devious plan. He listened carefully, unable to speak at the things she wanted him to do.

As quick and as strange as she came, the old woman slipped out the door and left Adrian to stare at the empty porch. He had never killed someone before…Had never wanted to. Especially not someone like Emily De Laramie…the King's daughter.


End file.
